Code Holidays: Christmas
by Zoey Overbeck
Summary: Written as an inspiration for Lyoko Native. With Winter break commencing and Christmas approaching, what better way to celebrate the holidays than with a Christmas party? Next up for Code: Holidays is New Years.


AN: Code: Holidays celebrates holidays celebrated in France only (called "Events").

* * *

**Code: Holidays- Event # 1  
The Christmas Party**

Odd strolled through Kadic's corridor, gazing and admiring the beautiful display of holiday decorations. His usual light and dark purple attire was replaced by festive green and red clothing, a Santa hat resting lopsided on his spiked hair. Lightly chewing on a peppermint candy cane, he stopped as a Christmas tree loomed into view. The tree was enormous- it was a wonder how the administration managed to drag such a large object through the Administrative building's doors. Strings of lights in all sorts of colors were wrapped around the tree, interweaving through the tree's branches, brightly flashing in alternate patterns. Similar lights were strung around the tree, though these lights were different- the base was shaped as a trapezoid, with the bottom of the base smaller and squarer than the upper part of the base. The lights each had a different colored liquid contained within the glass dome that bubbled when they were turned on, brightly illuminating the tree with a soft glow of orange, red, green, and blue.

Other decorations on the tree included variously designed baubles and miniature figures that were hung onto the tree's branches. Rocking horses, sleights, bells, snowflakes, reindeers, candy canes, decorative wreaths, and miniature figurines of Santa were strewn about the great tree, adding to the super-saturation of objects that could possibly be put on a single tree. As Odd's eyes roamed the entire tree's being, he noted, with a small smile, that one practical joker had put an UFO that was coyly hiding behind a reindeer.

"I'm guessing that all these flashing lights would be enough to cause a seizure, right?" Sissi remarked, coming up from behind Odd to stand beside him, her red ankle-length dress billowing behind her with every step she took.  
"Yeah, I guess so. …or at least they would be enough to possibly cause a fire. I mean, look at the copious amount of lights they put on this tree!" Odd exclaimed, pointing to the hundreds of bulbs that decorated the tree as he finished the rest of his candy cane.  
"I don't think so, Odd. I mean, the Mythbusters had done something like this- stringing hundreds of lights on a single tree and having someone watch over the tree over the span of a night with all of them blazing for the whole period. I think the worst that happened was that some parts of the tree were slightly crispy, a string of lights had been killed from the amount of heat produced by the other sets of lights, and some of the plastic covering around other lights had been slightly melted."  
"… but what if there was a fire? What would we do then?"  
"Odd" Sissi sighed, turning around to face him. "We'd probably have to sit on the roof, as the tree is blocking the doorway, and wait for the firemen to get us before we're burnt to a crisp. What idiot would block a doorway anyway?" She exhaled angrily.

"…What idiot would place mistletoe near the Christmas tree?" Odd asked as his eyes were intently focused on the little sprig of vegetation hanging above them.  
"What?"  
"Look up."

Sissi complied, and she almost groaned when she saw the infernal plant hanging there. Hung by an almost invisible thread, the mistletoe taunted her, its white berries and deep green leaves wavering slightly in the gust created by the school's AC/heating unit.

"Odd Della Robbia, if you think I'm going to kiss you, you are-" Odd cut her off as he suddenly leaned forward.

Their lips met for a moment, parting only when Sissi had ran out of breath. Sissi, suddenly angry, slapped him across the face, her hand leaving a distinct red mark on his cheek. Odd stumbled backwards, one hand holding the injured side of his face. His hat slipped off of his head and fell onto the floor, where it lay in a crumpled heap.

"That was totally uncalled for!" Sissi snarled, struggling to catch her breath. "You're such a player, kissing everyone without the kiss meaning anything!"  
"But they did mean something! I swear it!"  
"Yeah, it did mean something, but only for the few hours you spend on a girl, flirting with them. After that, it means nothing at all to both of you! …and second…" Sissi knelt down and picked up the fallen hat before straightening up again. "It's rude to swear."

"Oh, yeah, like you know anything about kissing someone with true love! You never kissed someone that loved you back!"  
"Wanna bet?" Sissi snapped as she angrily straightened out a few creases in her red dress.  
"A hundred Euros, I will." Odd crossed his arms and gave a smug smirk.

Without warning, Sissi grabbed Odd's head and pulled it forward, their lips meeting a second time. She moved Odd's hat just as she made the kiss, making sure nobody glancing at the two would find them kissing under the mistletoe. She released him a mere minute later, leaving him to reel in shock from the unexpectedness of the kiss. The only sounds that came out of his mouth were babbles; his eyes were wide open and his heart was rapidly beating in his chest as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.

"That's a hundred Euros you owe me." Sissi triumphantly declared as she left.

[Page Break]

Aelita gently tugged the hem of her knee-high light and dark green dress, blushing as she gazed into Jeremie's eyes. Taking his suggestion to dress up on what she thought was best for representing the holidays, Aelita could not help but feel slightly embarrassed wearing the elf suit. Though Jeremie didn't want to make her wear modified sneakers to imitate the goofy-looking pointy-toed shoes, the elongated 'ears', or the hat that had bells on the two pointed ends of the hat, Aelita had done so anyway, thinking it was an instrumental part in celebrating Christmas. Jeremie was unwillingly dressed as Santa- Odd had recently decided to give the holiday a twist and celebrate Christmas the American way after learning some of the customs associated with Christmas.

As a result, Odd began loudly caroling French Christmas songs in the hallways in his usual carefree manner, disturbing almost every student that was trying to study for the exams coming up after the short Christmas break. Bribing Rosa with fake promises not to eat as much food in the following year, Odd had obtained a carton of Eggnog from the cafeteria and proceeded to see how fast he could chug the carton down. Giving a loud belch, Odd widely grinned when he saw that he had managed to finish the whole carton in two minutes.

"Jeremie, what is this?" Aelita held up a can of whipped cream, examining it as she held up her plate of pie.  
"It's whipped cream, Aelita. It's basically a near-flavorless topping that people can put on their sundaes or any other sweet foods- your pie, for example."  
"…What's a sundae?"  
"It's ice cream that is-"  
"Jeremie!" Odd exclaimed, interrupting his explanation. "Have some pie before I eat it all!" he declared, shoving a plate with a slice of apple pie at Jeremie.  
"Uhm… thanks, Odd. Er, Aelita, may I have the can of whipped cream?"  
"Oh, let me, Jeremie!" Odd happily said, snatching the can from Aelita and shaking the can viciously. "Being with you guys over the holidays really gets me juiced up!"

Pushing the top of the can of whipped cream, the semi-solid came shooting out of the can and all over Jeremie's pie- effectively covering every visible part of it. However, to Odd's misfortune, Jeremie's pie wasn't the single thing the whipped cream landed on. Between the eggnog induced hyperactivity and the simple urge to fit into the holiday spirit, some of the whipped cream landed on Sissi's expensive, newly bought dress, instantly setting off her short temper.

"Ugh! Odd Della Robbia! You clean this right now, or I am going to kill you! Give me that can of whipped cream!" Sissi screamed, jabbing a finger towards Odd in anger. She made a snatch for the can, only to have Odd jerk the hand that held the said can away from her. "Yumi, you're Japanese, right?"  
"Yes, but I don't see where you're going with thi-"  
"Use your ninja moves!"

Poor Yumi stood there with no idea what to do in this type of situation. On one hand, it would be simply wrong to hurt Odd for no apparent reason- the incident was purely an accident. On the other hand, Sissi's temper towards anybody was impressive- she would treat the perpetrator of the crime equally whether they were her friends or not. Aelita, deciding to free Yumi from the pressure, put her half-eaten pie on Jeremie's desk and slid into a fighting stance- both of her hands up and curled into fists, and one leg positioned behind the other.

"You know ninja moves?" Sissi asked Aelita, surprised that the normally passive girl that she knew would know anything about fighting styles.  
"Yumi taught me some moves in her spare time early this year. I figured it would be helpful if XA- I mean, if somebody was unfairly treating someone."  
"Well…" Sissi began, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. "If you want to go beat him up for me, you can do so." Sissi paused, and then began wildly cheering. "Go Aelita! Whoo! Beat him up! Yeah!"

Aelita did not respond, but dropped her fighting stance instead and stretched out an arm towards Odd.

"May I have the whipped cream?" she asked innocently.  
"That's not ninja style." Sissi snorted dismissively.  
"No!" Odd replied with a scowl, holding the can possessively close to his body.

Aelita said nothing and stood there with a devilish twinkle in her eyes. A small smile crept its way to her lips, and before anybody could say anything, she opened her mouth and let out a blood-curdling screech. Rushing towards Odd, she gave another loud screech and began swiping at him with her hands.

"Mother of mercy!" Odd yelled, pulling Jeremie's door open and fleeing through it.

However, Aelita wasn't as disheartened by his sudden departure as Odd thought she would be. Instead, like a determined hunter chasing after its prey, Aelita ran after him with her hands in an attack position, cackling madly as she chased him out of the building and into the freezing weather, shouting happily when some of her attacks were able to connect. There wasn't any snow or ice to further impede her chase, which Aelita was grateful for- the only problem was the limited visibility, as it was 9:30 at night, and Kadic didn't have the best lighting system to help students see where they were going. Odd turned around, surprised to see that she was still hot on his heels even though she probably ran two blocks just chasing after him. Thinking of a way to defend himself, his eyes rested on the can of whipped cream he was holding.

"Ah!" Odd yelled in desperation, unleashing the whipped cream in Aelita's direction, disappointed when it failed to deter her.

Running behind her came the rest of the gang- they had chased after her because they wanted to see what would happen next. Sissi had her camera out and was taking pictures of the chase as Aelita continued to run after Odd in the courtyard. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, Aelita let loose a wild howl from the pure exhilaration of finally being able to participate in some form of action after Lyoko was shut down months ago. Willing herself to go faster, she managed to score another swipe on Odd's back, making him shout in surprise over her sudden burst in speed.

Running in Lyoko from monsters for years had trained her to be able to run in long distances without many breaks. Imitating the predatory animals she had researched when she was still getting to know Earth years ago, she growled before leaping towards him. Knocking him forward and wrapping her arms around his torso, she prevented him from running away any further or freeing his arms in order to fend Aelita off.

"You have the right to remain silent! The right to remain silent!" Aelita screeched as Odd struggled.  
"Okay, Aelita." Sissi said, still laughing from seeing Odd run around Kadic screaming like a little girl. "You can stop now."  
"Was that ninja enough for you?" Aelita asked as she was letting go of Odd, coughing from the effort of chasing him down.  
"Yeah." Sissi chuckled, taking one last picture of the harassed Odd.  
"You were like… possessed, or something!" Odd coughed out, trying to catch his breath.  
"Yay!" Aelita exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "You're the second person that said that!" Aelita happily beamed instead of being saddened by the comment.  
"Hey, Aelita, can you take a picture of us freshmen?" Sissi asked, giving Aelita her camera and showing her how to use it. "Yumi, can be in the picture too, if you want."

Aelita nodded, and the group crowded over a bench, grinning happily because of recent events. Odd was grinning because Aelita wasn't chasing him with it anymore and let the can of Reddi-Whip rest at one of the metal legs of the bench.

"Say 'ready' when you want me to take it." Aelita commanded, focusing the camera.  
"Ready" Yumi declared, and tried not to blink as the camera's flash went off.

Sissi was about to ask for another photo to be taken, but was interrupted by Jim, who was poking his head out of his dorm room window after hearing the commotion.

"Hey, you kids! It's cold outside! Get back in here before you get sick!"  
"Just a minute, Jim!" Aelita replied, fiddling with the camera as Jim retreated back into the warmth of the building. "Okay, guys, can you squeeze in a bit?" The group complied, the persons in the middle immediately feeling discomfort as they were pressed from both sides.

"One, two, three, and… go!" The camera clicked, and the digital photo remained on the camera's screen a moment before reverting back to its picture-taking mode.

Grabbing the camera from Aelita, Sissi pressed a few buttons until she viewed the picture last taken. Meanwhile, Aelita was keeping an eye on the can of Reddi-Whip. Rushing forward suddenly, she snatched the can from the ground and ran away with it, laughing triumphantly. Sissi stared at the digital picture for a while before declaring that she was satisfied with the shot. Sissi grinned and the group headed back into the dorms.

"You know…" Jeremie began, his sapphire eyes twinkling with mischief. "We should do this every year!"  
"Alright, but just the festivities. No more chasing people around Kadic." Odd gave an embarrassed grin as the group laughed. "Hey, I forgot something in your room, Jeremie!" Odd declared, breaking into a sprint towards the dorms.  
"Really?" Jeremie replied, confused. "What did you forget?"  
"To finish my pie!"

Jeremie shook his head, still grinning from the events of the Christmas party. As they reached the arches, Aelita stopped and looked up, noticing a small plant tied to the structure. Jeremie, noticing that she wasn't walking with them anymore walked over to her, wondering what she was looking at.

"Jeremie, why is there mistletoe here?"

One thing that was certain was that nobody would forget this experience any time soon, especially a red-faced computer nerd and the food-loving practical joker that hung mistletoe all over the school.

* * *

Hollies have red berries. Mistletoe has white berries.

This story was inspired by some events that actually happened (*snickers* Best Christmas party ever!). I suspect the pictures they took of me chasing a Junior [after said Junior accidentally got whipped cream on K's sister's Ugg boots- I happily ran after her for 5 minutes in my socks in freezing weather, no jacket, and all over asphalt and concrete (We were initially just going outside for a few seconds to waste the remaining whipped cream when the incident happened)] were posted somewhere.


End file.
